Frozen food container



kMaly l, 1951 L, R, lNwOOD 2,550,815

FROZEN FOOD CONTAINER `Filed Feb. 17, 1947 Lou/'5 R. /fvwoool PatentedMay 1, 1951 't UNITED- sTATEs PATENT oFFlcEN FROZEN FOOD CONTAINER LouisInwood, Kansas VCity, Mo. v Application February 17, 1947, `Serial No.729,171

This invention relates to. containers for food and particularly to apackage for frozen food having for its primary aim the provision ofstructure forreceiving such articles and adapted to maintain the same ina sealed frozen condition when the same is kept at predeterminedtemperatures.

The most important object of this invention is to provide a frozen foodpackage having a pair of opposed pan-like sections, one of said sectionsbeing provided with a continuous peripheral groove or trough forreceiving the outermost edge of the other pan section and a lling ofliquid adapted to be frozen,rthereby sealing the food contained thereinagainst entrance of air.

. Another important object of this invention is to provide a frozen foodpackage having a pair of pan-like sections, each provided with a bottomwall and inclined side walls, said side wall of one ofthe sectionsterminating in a continuous annular trough for receiving a filling ofliquid, the outermost edge of said trough being lower than the innermostedge thereof to prevent the liquid contained-therein from owing into thepackage.

A still further object of this'invention is to provide a frozen foodpackage having the aforesaid pan-like sections as a part thereof, whichsections are crimpled to the end that when the same are disposedpinmutual contacting relationship to present scalloped or roughened areaswith which the ice formed by freezing the liquid in the groove may clingand thereby obviate freeing itself.

Many additional objects will be made clear or become apparent during thecourse of the following specification, reference being made to theaccompanying drawing, wherein: Y

. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a frozen food package made in accordancewith my present invention, parts being broken away for clearness.

l Fig..2 is a substantially central cross sectional view taken throughthe package illustrated in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view similar to that shown inFig. 2 and on an enla I ged` scale. y

A pair ofopposed pan-like sections are broadly designated vby thenumerals I and I2 respectively. Section I2 is provided with a bottomWall'l4 and an inclined side wall I6. That end of the flared side WallI6 remote from the bottom I4, extends outwardly as vat I8 into a portioncircumscribing wall I6 in substantial parallel relationship with bottomwall I4 and this section I8 terminates in a trough 20.

This trough 20, the section I8. wall I6 and bot- 1 oiaim. (cruzo-f4@ tomWall I4 of section I2, are all integral and are formed by molding thesection I2 when the same is manufactured.

, Trough 20 hasan inner and an outer wall 22 vand 24 respectivelydefining a continuous bight .26 circumscribing the extension I8 ofy,wall I.6.A

Pan-like section I0 has a bottom wall 28 embossed as at 36 for rigidityand a continuous fiared side Wall 32. When in operative position, this,side wall 32 of the section I0, is inv engagement with the section I2as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. In otherwords, the diameter of sectionI0 across side wall 32 intermediate the ends thereof is substantiallythesame as the diameter of section I2 at the outermost edge of the portionI8 thereof. Thus, when section I6 is moved into place, it engagesportion I8 as at 34 and thereby holds bottom 28 in spaced relation fromthe portion I8. The outermost free marginal edgeof the flared wall 32 ofsection I6 extends downwardly beyond point 34 into the trough or groove20 and inY spaced relation from the outermost side wall 24 of thistrough 20, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

Whenplaced in operative use, the section I2 of the package is filledwith food, whereupon section I0 is moved into place and a filling ofliquid 36 is `poured into the trough 20. This liquid 36 will not flowinto the interior of the container since the outermost peripheral edge38 of wall 24 islower than the edge of inner wall 22 which mergeswithportion I8 at point 34. As the package is placed into a cooler forfreezing the food contained therein. the liquid 36 is likewise frozen,thereby sealing the contents of the package against entrance of air andholding the section I0 in place. It is noted that the free end of wall32 of section I0 beyond point 34 extends into this f liquid 36 and willbe frozen thereinto when such package is so defrosted. vapor or moistureemanating from the liquid 36 after the same has thawed, passes into thepackage to prevent burning of the food and to impart moisture thereto.This action is made possible by crimpling the walls I6 and 32 ofsections I2 and l0 respectively as at 40. Such crimpling presents ascalloped or roughed condition and thereby provides spaces between thesections I and l2 at their point of contact 34.

These spaces so presented by crimpling 40 are sealed to an air-tightcondition by the freezing of liquid 36 and when the same is melted, theaforesaid vapor will pass into the container through such spaces.

An additional function of the roughened areas 40 is to present teethwhich the ice formed by freezing `liquid 36 engages, thereby obviatingany danger ofthe ice freeing itself in an otherwise relativelysmoothsurface. This scalloping is formed by gathering the material and suchmaterial is made from a substance that has high .heat con'- ductivitysuch as light aluminum.

It is furthermore notable that the condition of the food within thecontainermaybe known at all times by observation of the condition vofthe liquid 36 within the trough 20. In other Words, if this liquid 36:is frozen, the user may be assured that the contents 'of the package'is also in a frozen condition. It V-is contemplated also that sometypes of food-fshould'not be lmaintained at as low a temperature asothers, and, therefore, admixing the liquid Y36 With a solution of brineor the like will prevent ythe'sa'r'ne'f'roin freezing except at lowertemperatures, :thereby indicating to the user that the food isbeingm'aintained at a relatively low temperature.

It is notable that the package chosen for illustration is substantiallycircularand thatisection I2 -thereof is particularly adapted tocontainpies, the portion i3 thereof lbeinglprcrvided to support theoutermost edge of suc-h pie-in the usual manner. It is obvious, however,'that the shape and design of the package may well be changed andportion I8 thereof entirely eliminated when other types 'of foods areIto be contained therein. To this end the-sectionsjl Pand `I2 may eachbe oval in shape, rectangular with rounded corners or other shapes to`suit conditions and section l2 thereof might'be compartmented to'accommodate `a number of different kinds of food. It is also notablethat section Ill presents fan easily removable lid eliminating thenecessityo-f utilizing openers or the like. Such easy removable iactionof lid lil permits heating-of the food With lid l0 entirely removed, ifsuch isjdesired or necessary. In other words, it is 'clear that sometypes vof foods should'be heatedor cooked without presence of steam and,therefore, during-such heating or cooking process, the'steam emanatingfrom the cooking food will be' free `to escape.

While as above set down, it is 'contemplated that the trough 20 besea-led with water orv other freezable liquid it is also-*understoodthat vmany types of foods -Will not require this medium. In other words,many foods needfonly be kept-relatively cold and if the same shouldd-rcp below affreezing point duringv handlngor shipment-contaminationwould not necessarily occur. yInthes'e instances any type of'sealingagent'may be'substituted for the liquid 36. Such sealing agents are1obtainable upon the open lmarket and` usually constitute a wax orpaste-like substance, which, when disposed in the troughrfll,presentsa'heat seal. In this case when lid l 6 is moved into 'place andthe trough 20 has a sealing of such agent, the flap or wall 24 is thencrimped over the Wall 32 of section I0 as heat is applied thereto forfusing the sealing agent tightly between such overlapped portions ofsection l0 and I2 respectively. In the event that the package is formedfrom aluminum or the like, to the end that same is rendered light, thissealing agent should be adapted to readily adhere to such aluminummaterial `when heat "is applied thereto during the crimping action.

In addition to being extremely inexpensive to manufacture, the packagejust described is easy to'useand has many advantages other than thoseabove set forth. Those advantages made possible by its use'are,therefore, contemplated by this invention 'and manifestly, it is desiredto be limited only by the spirit of this invention and scope of theappended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed asvnew and desiredtube-secured by Letters Patent is:

vA container comprising 'alower section having a 'at bottom wall .and a,continuous annular side wall extending upwardly `and outwardly from theperiphery of said bottom wall; .a continuous outwardly extendingshelf onthe 'outermost edge of said .side wall in parallelism with the bottomwall; an integral annular trough depending from said shelf at ttheoutermost 'edge `thereof, .said trough being V-.shapedcross-section,:the outermost leg of the .trough having its upper edgeterminating in a planebetween :the shelf :and .the bottom Wall;apan-.like cover Y.section 'having .a top wall and a continuousannularside wall .extending .outwardly land downwardly Vfrom the top Wall inoverlying relationship to rthe Vshelf and in engagement therewith "atthe outermost edge of the shelf, the side vWall ofthe .coversection eX-tending into the trough with its lowermost peripheraledge .spaced'from-.said legs ofthe trough, said trough'being adapted to receive'afreezabie liquid for sealing .the `side kwallof the-.covertsectionwithin the trough; `and crimpling .formed in the sections at .the Apoint-of interengagement presenting spaces interconnecting the'trough .andthe interior of saidfcontainer.

LOUIS. R. INWOOD REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the le of this patent: Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date

105,572 Heinig July '19 1870 804,546 Patton-etal. Nov. 14, 19051,359,351 .Gash Nov. `16, 1920 1,369,919 Eliel. Mar. l, 19221 1,404,113Gonnella J:an. 17, 1922 1,446,782 Brown :et al. Feb. 27, 1923 1,540,252Chamberlain June2, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 296,010German-y vJan. v5 .1917 429,226 Great Britain Ma-y 27, V1935 474,111Great .Britain ..Y Oct. `26, .1937

